In this collection of nineteen unforgettable essays, Dr. Selzer describes unsparingly the surgeon s art. Both moving and perversely funny, Mortal Lessons is an established classic that considers not only the workings and misworkings of the human body but also the meaning of life and death. With a Preface written by the Author especially for this edition.
"

The only book of its kind, Tennis and the Meaning of Life is a resplendent collection of the best fiction (and poetry ) written about this sport/obsession. The stories are hilarious and sad, whimsical and philosophical - and thoroughly saturated with the art of the game.

This is Geldzahler's (longtime curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art) written legacy, a collection of essays, interviews, and talks covering three turbulent decades in which he and the artists he championed defined what was new and important in contemporary art. Foreword by David Hockney.

In these twenty elegant essays, a philosopher and amateur naturalist meanders along the rivers and streams of the american West-and muses on love, loss, aging, motherhood, happiness, the art of poking around, and other important matters. A smart, compassionate, and wise meditation on living in place (Terry Tempest Williams).
"

Drawing on the real-life stories of twenty exemplary caregivers, Dr. Charles Garfield explains the widely used Shanti caregivers model he originated-and shows how to set limits, avoid burnout, accept gratitude, and grapple with issues of life and death when caring for people with HIV/AIDS.

Sparks fly when a black television anchorman looking for real life (and higher ratings) hooks up with a spunky young woman from the inner city in this touching and wickedly funny novel (Publishers Weekly) by one of Granta s Best Young american Novelists.
"

Beer s important...fascinating book(Los Angeles Times) shows how suburban California came to epitomize the american Dream-until its affluent complacency was shattered by downsizing, anxiety, and distrust.
"

Set in the small English village of Stonebridge, the Orchard on Fire tells the story of eight-year-old April Harlency's coming-of-age in a place where the charm of the local landscape contrasts sharply with the predjuices and vagaries of the adult world. When April encounters the red-haired, energetic Ruby Richards, the two girls become fast friends. Together, they abandon the physical and mental abuse forced on them by adults in their lives and transform an abandoned railway car in an orchard into their secret hideaway, an idyllic camp of shared dreams.

Jim Paul muses on Western philosophy and the medieval mind as he makes his way through a harried weekend in Los Angeles, yielding a delightful...humorous book (Bloomsbury Review) whose every sentence bursts with information, gorgeously put (New Yorker).
"

In a book that is must reading for those interested in the future of the american West (Kirkus Reviews), Bingham shows how ranchers in Colorado s San Luis Valley-along with a Rhodesian expert, a Canadian billionaire, and a Hindu mathematician-coped with an unfolding environmental disaster: the rapid desertification of their land.
"